Power miter saws are often used for sawing material such as construction lumber. A miter saw typically includes a base or platform on which a turntable is positioned. The turntable is used to support a work piece thereon. A bevel member is connected to the turntable and functions to support a cutting assembly that is operable to perform a cutting operation on the work piece. The cutting assembly is pivotably connected to the bevel member such that the cutting assembly may first be moved upward and away from the turntable and then downward toward the turntable in order to produce a cut. The bevel member is pivotably connected to the turntable, thus enabling the cutting assembly to pivot in relation to the turntable in order to produce angled cuts on the workpiece.
Many miter saw arrangements include a laser alignment device that provides a visible marker showing where the blade of the cutting assembly will contact the workpiece. Laser alignment devices typically include a laser emitter having a laser body and a laser mount. The laser alignment device is often configured to provide the laser emitter with three degrees of freedom. The first degree of freedom allows the laser emitter to be moved laterally to adjust for different blade and kerf thickness. Thus, when the blade is changed by the user, the user may also change the location of the marker to indicate the cut location of the new blade.
The second and third degrees of freedom of the laser alignment device allow the parallelism of the marker to change with respect to the blade. In particular, the second degree of freedom is that the laser emitter may be tilted about a pan axis, allowing the laser marker to pan toward or away from the blade cutting location/slot while the marker remains parallel to the blade cutting location/slot. The third degree of freedom is that the laser emitter may be titled about an axis perpendicular to the pan axis such that the angle of the laser relative to the blade cutting location/slot may be adjusted. The second and third degrees of freedom are often included with the laser alignment device to allow the user to compensate for manufacturing errors in the saw and/or the laser alignment device. The second and third degrees of freedom also allow the user to adjust the laser in the event it is knocked out of alignment with the cutting location/slot during operation of the saw.
Although laser alignment devices are desirable on power saws, the mechanisms that provide for adjustment of the laser can be costly and consume valuable space on the saw. Efficient use of space is particularly important when the laser alignment device is positioned on a front portion of the upper blade guard, as the laser alignment device must typically also fit under the lower blade guard. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a power saw with a laser alignment device that uses relatively few parts, is relatively compact, and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.